The Federal Communications Commission is selling its plan to give tech companies a new source of wireless airwaves to build “super Wi-Fi” as a big victory for Silicon Valley companies.

But some longtime advocates of the idea say the proposal is too little, too late. They say FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is looking for some positive press after a rough summer.

The agency will vote this month on an order to allow companies such as Google, Microsoft, HP and Intel to build new smart phones and laptops that can surf the Web using idle TV spectrum, known as “white spaces.” Genachowski says doing so would expand high-speed Internet connections across the country and help create jobs in a new market.

It’s also an opportunity for Genachowski to push out a good-news story ahead of November’s elections. Contentious negotiations over Net neutrality — a White House priority — fell apart last month after six weeks of meetings with the chairman’s staff, frustrating Internet advocates and many Silicon Valley companies. Moving forward with white spaces could be seen as a political win for Genachowski.

But critics say FCC’s strategy has some pitfalls that would prevent the technology from taking off and that the agency waited too long to move forward, squandering momentum that had been building in the industry.

“It’s an act of desperation caused by the downright anger at the FCC for not implementing the agenda they promised,” said Sascha Meinrath, research director of the New America Foundation’s wireless future program, which has been pushing to unleash the white spaces. “I think it’s premature to think this is a big win if there are so many compromises right out of the gate.”

The white-spaces issue has a lengthy history. In 2007, a dozen technology companies joined forces with cell-phone makers such as Motorola and Internet providers like Earthlink to form the Wireless Innovation Alliance, intended to persuade the FCC to let them use the unused pieces of spectrum sitting between TV stations.

The goal is to use that spectrum to carry Internet service to homes, offices and rural areas without having to rely on existing wireless carriers, which are strapped for airwaves. And since the white spaces are unlicensed, they could be used for free — giving an alternative to other, more-expensive Internet services.

So-called white-spaces devices would be embedded in laptops or cell phones, similar to how current devices use Wi-Fi chips to access “hot spots.”

But broadcasters balked loudly, saying opening up the airwaves to the public would interfere with their programming. Also, wireless microphone users, like sports leagues, theaters and churches, already operate in those airwaves and worry they’ll be kicked off the air by the new users. The wireless industry’s lobby, CTIA, said those airwaves should be auctioned off and licensed.

After months of testing and lobbying, the tech companies came up with a way to detect and avoid frequencies being used by broadcasters and wireless mikes. In October 2008, the FCC, then chaired by Republican Kevin Martin, unanimously voted to give the tech companies their wish and let them use the airwaves. Martin wanted the new devices to have “sensing technologies” that enable them to detect nearby broadcasts as well as use a geo-location database to automatically identify which airwaves are in use. But few other specifics were spelled out, and critics filed suit against the FCC to prevent the release of white spaces.

Genachowski took the helm of the FCC and focused on other priorities — namely, the National Broadband Plan and Net neutrality efforts. The lobbying efforts to bring the technology to market stalled.

Other commissioners, including Republican Robert McDowell, kept pushing Genachowski to move forward with white-spaces rules so Intel could start making the chips and Dell could start making the devices.

“It’s been frustrating that the unlicensed use of white space was all the rage two years ago; it had a big historic unanimous vote — then things stalled,” McDowell told POLITICO. “The commission’s delay has actually slowed down innovation and investment and has prevented consumers from enjoying the benefits of technologies that existed two years ago.”

Cell-phone makers and chip manufacturers were champing at the bit to create the equipment. Now, after two years of waiting for further rules, those resources have been put to other uses. It could take time to ramp up the enthusiasm for the technology again.

McDowell also said he was hopeful that white spaces could resolve some public policy issues that have been vexing the FCC by giving consumers an alternative to existing Internet providers. “It’s been my goal to see white-space devices on store shelves in time for the 2011 holiday shopping season,” he said.

Details about the actual order Genachowski has circulated with the other four commissioners are still unclear.

Sources familiar with the matter say some aspects of the order are not ideal for the new technology. For instance, the order may allow all wireless microphone users to use any channels they want, instead of restricting them to two channels set aside for their use. That would take away wireless capacity for the devices companies like Google and Microsoft hope will soon flourish.

There also may be restrictions on how much power could be used to operate hot spots, which would diminish the coverage area of the new service.

Richard Whitt, head regulatory lobbyist for Google, said he hopes the FCC doesn’t make the rules too restrictive for the tech companies.

“The bottom line is, if you give more flexibility on the technical side, the more we can use the white spaces to their full functionality and have enough capacity to make it really take off,” he said.

The order also eliminates the need for each device to have “sensing” capabilities, instead allowing them to rely on the database to try to avoid the existing occupants of the airwaves. That is good news for tech companies, who say it will now be cheaper to produce the devices.

But it’s bad news for broadcasters, who think they’ll have less protection from these newfangled devices that threaten their signals.

“We’re working constructively with the commission to create a viable geo-location database that will protect tens of millions of TV viewers,” said David Donovan, president of MSTV, a broadcasting trade group. “Hopefully, that will also protect our ability to provide live local newscasts with wireless mikes.”

No one knows, however, how the geo-location database will work and who will maintain it. Google is among the nine companies who applied to run it.

Questions also remain about how implementing the National Broadband Plan will affect the FCC’s white-spaces strategy. The plan calls for reallocating a huge swath of broadcast airwaves. That means there would be fewer white spaces available for the new service.

An FCC official told POLITICO that, because white-spaces use is so flexible, there should still be plenty of capacity for unlicensed use.

Despite the uncertainty of the order, many tech companies say they have high hopes for the new technology.

Just as virtually every wireless device today is Wi-Fi-enabled, we envision these devices also being white-space-enabled,” said Kerry Murray, senior counsel for global public policy for Dell. “We also expect the spectrum to be a laboratory for innovation, so it’s safe to say there are devices and applications that are yet to be invented.”

Free Press policy counsel Joel Kelsey said he hopes the order “represents the start of a proactive agenda to encourage competition in the wireless market. ... Still, much work remains to be done.”